Code On Time: COT Tools for Excel

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COT Tools for Excel

Thursday, May 30, 2019Print Subscribe

VS 2019, Multi File Upload, Command Line Mode

Code On Time release 8.7.11.0 brings support for Visual Studio 2019, Multi-File Upload in Touch UI applications, and new command line options that allow creating apps with automated scripts.

Start using Visual Studio 2019 with your projects. The new development environment is fully integrated in the app generator. If you do have an existing project and want to migrate to the latest tools from Microsoft, then select the app on the start page of the generator and choose Open option. File Explorer will show the project files. Either delete the file with *.sln extension and regenerate your app or right-click the solution file, open it with Visual Studio 2019, select the solution file item in Solution Explorer, and press Ctrl+S.

Multi-file Upload is now available in Touch UI if you add Upload action to a compatible data controller. End users of your app will be able to choose multiple files to upload. The app will create a database record for each file, have the file submitted to the server, and persist it to the first BLOB field.

Command Line support is now available in the app generator.

Enter the following in the command line to generate a database app that works on mobile devices and in the web browser:

codeontime -Generate "c:\apps\myapp3" -DbConnection "Data Source=;Initial Catalog=northwind-cmd;Integrated Security=True;" -run

Build mobile and web database apps in seconds in command line. Use generated apps to validate your ideas, prototype data input forms, enter sample data, and much more. Apps built with Code On Time are metadata-driven. Create you own customization tools to invoke codeontime.exe in command line mode. The upcoming Code On Time v9 will be using command line mode extensively since the entire development environment is incorporated directly in the apps.

The following features and fixes also included in this release:

(Model Builder) All words in field labels are capitalized when a model is created.
(Touch UI) Optimized packaging of JSON properties of FieldValue object instances to minimize footprint for offline/disconnected logging.
(Client Library) Values of static Check Box List are correctly displayed when more than one item is selected.
(Framework) Blob adapter configuration is not included in the JSON controller descriptor.
(Touch UI) Selection of files in BLOB input will make the input focused.
(Framework) New TemporaryFileStream class is used for temporary storage of BLOB content.
(Touch UI) Method $app.confim support chained alternative execution of code with promises when confirmation is canceled.
(Offline Sync) Concurrent uploading of BLOBs is implemented with optional reconciliation of failed to upload blobs.
(Offline Sync) End user can opt to sync without data refresh. The option will remain selected until data refresh is explicitly requested. This makes possible working offline and only uploading changes to the server.
(Framework) Batch Editing of many-to-many fields works correctly when the primary key field is explicitly included in the view.
(Framework) Batch Editing will not erase values of many-to-many fields that are not selected in the Batch Edit form.
(Framework) Surveys accept inline functions and non-string values as "Visible When" and "Read Only When" expressions in questions and topics.
(Framework) Signature prompt is vertically aligned to the middle.
(Touch UI) Download icon is not displayed anymore next to "DOWNLOAD" button.
(Offline Sync) Added support for signatures.
(Touch UI) Placing $none in "Notify" property of action will prevent notification from being displayed.
(ODP) Completed implementation of thumbnail production on the client.
(Model Builder) New implementation of multi-level construction of Copy property of lookups for both 1-to-Many and 1-to-1 relationships.
(Classic) Implementation of BLOB uploading is now moved to Offline Data Processor.
(Framework) Download cookie is set on the server only when specified in the request.
(Framework) Azure Blob Adapter now uses HTTPS by default.
(Touch UI) Fixed signature resizing.
(Model Builder) "Enter" key in the property of the last field will post changes and re-select the same field property.
(Localization) Italian localization contributed by Massimo Ciurleo.
(ODP) Signatures in child data views are fully supported in transactional mode (when odp is enabled).
(Project Wizard) New "Addons" section in Features.
(Framework) Filter expression in the model will not cause errors when advanced search is executed.
(Framework) Default transaction scope is "sequence",
(Offline Sync) If transaction scope is "sequence" then ODP-assigned sequence is overridden with an offline sequence number. If transaction scope is explicitly set to "all", then the sequence is assigned to 0 for all transactions in the log.
(Touch UI) Button "driving directions" correctly composes Google Maps query based on fields tagged as map-latitude and map-longitude.
(Client Library) Failed blob will be abandoned since there is not much that the user can do. The row was either inserted or updated already. The blob was rejected by the server. Abandoning of blob eliminates infinite loop of submission.
(Framework) A registration record for on-demand fields with blank "On Demand Handler" is not generated in Blob.generated.cs(vb) to prevent duplicate "empty" handlers when more than one such field is defined.
(Classic) Rich Text editor correctly sets the value produced in custom editors.
(Classic UI) Data views correctly synchronize with the inserted record.
(Touch UI) Forced notifications without text will not cause an empty alert displayed when ui.notification.enabled = false.
(Framework) Generated data access object has a unique name to prevent clashing with parameters created from access control rules.
(Framework) New property ApplicationServices.DisplayName returns application name. The value is derived either from the default app name or from the value stored in appName property in ~/touch-settings.json.
(Framework) Method ApplicationServices.ValidateBlobAccess ensures that user can access the row that contains the BLOB field. The field must also be accessible to the user. Otherwise access to blob is denied.
(Touch UI) Context menu options for child data views that were defined in their own containers are not displayed anymore. Use fields of DataView type to display child data instead. Previously visible context options have caused exceptions at runtime.
(Framework) Method NodeSetCollection.SetTag correctly sets tags for both data fields and views in both singular and chained calls.
(Touch UI) Inline editing in child data views will not cause identity fields to be marked as "Modified" and allow entering rows without errors
(Touch UI) Refactored panel opening and closing.

Our next goal is to release Offline Data Processor and Offline Sync in update 8.9.0.0 due out by the end of June 2019. We are skipping 8.8.0.0 release numbering since both features are being released together. Cloud On Time for Android will be out in July 2019. The new roadmap has been prepared and will be unveiled soon!

Labels: Application Factory, BLOB, COT Tools for Excel, Mobile, Model Builder, Offline, Release Notes, Transactions, Web Form Builder

Tuesday, October 15, 2013Print Subscribe

Announcing Mobile Client, Mobile Factory, Active Directory Membership, and Synchronization Service in Release 8.0.0.0

For the past few months we’ve been busy preparing a collection of exciting features that are included in the Code On Time release 8.0.0.0. Most customers will receive an automatic notification to download the software by the end of this week.

Mobile Client Library

With this release we are turning Code On Time application generator in a mobile app powerhouse. The term “mobile app” is used quite loosely in this day and age. A few HTML pages wrapped in a native shell is what passes as a modern mobile application.

Web applications created with Code On Time are simultaneously supporting desktop and mobile clients. The application framework in the foundation of the generated apps automatically detects the client capabilities and links a corresponding client library to the pages rendered in a web browser on the native device. Exactly the same page will render a different GUI on desktop and mobile devices. If you are building a desktop app, then you have developed a mobile version already!

We are using jQuery Mobile to offer touch-enabled user interface in the new mobile client library. The current release is based on jQuery Mobile 1.4.0 Beta.

Applications are rendered uniformly in all popular mobile devices. Desktop users can easily enable the mobile GUI by specifying a switch in the URL of any page.

The key features of the mobile client library:

The latest styling found in devices from Apple
Touch-enabled user interface elements
Progressive loading of data. There are no “next” or “previous” buttons.
Tap-and-hold techniques allows selecting multiple items in lists.
Unified sliding panel with the navigation links.
Unified sliding panel with context actions.

The initial release of mobile client library supports read-only interaction with data.

jQuery Mobile has significantly changed starting with version 1.3.0, which has required a complete re-write of the original implementation of the library. We are not complaining – there are significant performance improvements. New user interface components are integrated throughout the Mobile Client Library.

Users will be to see the mobile client library in action as soon as an app is rebuild with the new release of the app generator. We expect to offer ability to modify data in mobile clients by the middle of November 2013.

Ability to render alternative user interface on desktop and mobile devices is available in Unlimited edition of the app generator.

Mobile Factory

The new project type will be available in the new release. Premium edition users will be able to create mobile-only apps that will render “mobile” user interface on all devices including desktop.

Active Directory Authentication and Membership

Integration with Microsoft Active Directory is now available in Unlimited edition. It is now possible to authenticate users by Active Directory domain. Active Directory groups are recognized as user roles. Read configuration instructions at http://codeontime.com/learn/security/active-directory.

Synchronization Service

It’s been our goal to allow maximum efficiency in team development. We’ve been working diligently on a solution, which is now fully integrated in application generator release 8.0.0.0. Step-by-step tutorials explaining configuration of a project for multiple developers will be published shortly.

Labels: Application Builder, Application Factory, COT Tools for Excel, Features, Mobile, News, Teamwork, User Interface, Web Application Generator

Wednesday, June 19, 2013Print Subscribe

Tools for Excel–Enhanced App Generator Detection

Tools for Excel release 1.0.8.2 will correctly detect the app generator installed with “For Everyone” option. Install this update if you are receiving an instruction to download Code On Time even though it is installed on your computer.

App generator will not perform check for new releases when launched from Tools for Excel.

Labels: COT Tools for Excel, Release Notes